Judy Atwell, Santa Cruz County Stories: Community volunteering has always been part of Aptos resident's life

APTOS -- Judy Atwell lives by the advice her father gave her when she was just a child: If everyone helped one, there would be no need.

"If you think about that, it would change the world greatly," said Atwell, 70. "Everybody has something they can give."

Atwell is no stranger to giving. The Aptos resident and artist volunteers in various ways throughout the community, including creating handmade cards for local Meals on Wheels recipients. For more than two years, she has made 100 of these collage "tray favors" each month, no small feat since each card is a handmade piece of art.

"At Christmas we make something really extra special," she said, adding that she makes extra cards for the holidays. This year, the cards included a paper background with green wreaths and rhinestones, each of which had to be glued onto the card. Her husband, Dan, and friend Dee luckily helped out, she said.

"We make it fun," she said.

The craft designer was the longtime "Birthday Lady" for Jacob's Heart Children's Cancer Support Services, where she would make children's birthday cards and decorate the outside of their birthday packages. She's also made cards for St. Jude Children's Hospital.

"I really love kids and working with kids," said Atwell, who welcomed foster children into her own home while raising her two children.

Born in Philadelphia, Atwell and her family relocated to Saratoga when she was 4 after her father accepted a job with Lockheed Martin. She had two older brothers and her mother was a homemaker whose hobbies included baking and braiding rugs.

Atwell was always close to her father, she said.

"I absolutely adored my dad," she said. "He made everything fun."

He would make homemade ice cream, she said, and proclaim "Ice Cream Day," where the kids could eat as much ice cream as they wanted. The only rule he set, she said, was that if someone got sick to their stomach, they were on their own.

Growing up, Atwell wanted to be a fashion designer. Her neighbor worked in the fashion industry and would give her fabric scraps, which she would use to make doll clothes. This launched her into her first small business at the age of 10, and she hasn't stopped since.

Twenty years ago, Atwell was diagnosed with the painful and progressive disease Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy. Even through the illness, she makes the time to share her art and creativity with others.

"I feel like I'm not just a patient, I'm part of society, I'm part of the community," she said.

For Atwell, a founding member of the Capitola Downtown Village Association, the drive to help the community, and the people within it, is a part of who she is.

"I've always done some kind of volunteer work," she said. "It's just the way I was raised and what I believe in."

Getting to Know

Judy Atwell

Birthday: Feb. 21, 1943, in Philadelphia Family: Husband Dan; children Debbie of Larkin Valley and Tim of Aptos; four grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildrenA grand adventure: When Atwell was about 35, she packed up her Westfalia, took her two children out of school and hit the road for a year-long cross-country road trip that would change their lives. The single mother brought along homework for her kids, but took them to the places they could only read about in books, such as Pilgrim Rock and Colonial Williamsburg. 'I came back more sure of myself. When I left, I was frightened.'Creative genes: Atwell's brother Jack was a well-known ceramist whose work has appeared in museums including the de Young. Atwell's grandfather, Earl Vance, was in Vaudeville and helped invent the film projector, she said.